Every city, even the most modern and urban, should have quiet picturesque corners where you can relax from everyday hustle and bustle and enjoy nature. Any cozy park or a well-groomed corner of nature can be called such a place.
We will tell you about the most beautiful, unusual and stunning parks in the world, where every connoisseur of the magnificence of nature should visit.
Keukenhof Park, Lisse, The Netherlands
Keukenhof is located in the small town of Lisse between Amsterdam and The Hague and is known for its magnificent tulips. About 4.5 million tulips of many varieties (more than 100) grow and bloom here. The park also has a second name – “Garden of Europe”.
In addition to flower fields and greenhouses, ponds, canals, fountains, and sculptures serve as decorations for the park. Keukenhof opens to visitors in the spring during the flowering period of tulips – from late March to May, and at the end of April, the annual Bloemencorso Bollenstreek flower parade takes place here.
Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy
The Boboli Gardens are located in the main residence of the centuries-old rulers of Florence – the richest Medici family in Italy. These gardens are designed to demonstrate all the power, grandeur, and luxury of the famous family of the Renaissance.
The strict geometric-patterned layout of the park, luxurious fountains, and statues, open temples, and colonnades, grottoes, as well as magnificent views of the city, invariably attract tourists here from year to year.
Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai, China
Yuyuan means “Garden of Joy” or “Garden of Leisurely Rest”. This is a classic oriental garden in the style of the Ming Dynasty. The park with an area of about 4 hectares was laid out about 400 years ago and is now considered one of the examples of Chinese landscape design.
Picturesque landscapes, winding bridges, exquisite buildings, an abundance of attractions (there are more than 40 of them) make the park a gem of Shanghai.
Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France
The former royal (and now state) palace park with an area of 26 hectares is located in the Latin Quarter and is one of the main attractions of Paris. The Luxembourg Garden was laid out in 1611, when the Dowager Queen Marie de Medici had a desire to equip a palace and park ensemble in the suburbs of the French capital, reminiscent of her homeland, Florence.
The luxurious park is famous for its flower beds and terraces, fountains and greenhouses, sculptures, and pavilions. It houses the Luxembourg Palace, where the meetings of the French Senate are held.
Rikugien Park, Tokyo, Japan
The literal translation of the name of the park, laid out in 1695, is “the garden of six poems”. Rikugien is an island of harmony and tranquility, one of the most beautiful parks in Japan, and is considered a vivid example of the national style in landscape design.
On an area of about 9 hectares, there are man-made ponds and mountains, picturesque walking paths are equipped, more than 35 thousand trees and flowering shrubs grow here.
Garden of Cosmic Reflections, Dumfas, Scotland
The Garden of Space Reflections is located in Southern Scotland and is considered one of the most original parks on the planet. It was created in 1988 by renowned postmodern architect Charles Jencks and his wife and colleague Maggie.
On a vast territory of 16 hectares, equations, and dragons, aluminum and snakes, spirals and pyramids, chaos and symmetry coexist. The park is private but open to the public.
Peterhof, St. Petersburg, Russia
The complex of palace and park ensembles bordering the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland was formed during the 18th-19th centuries at the initiative of Peter I. The central and most famous of them is the regular Lower Park with magnificent fountains. The park is also incredibly beautiful with a “water extravaganza”, which can be seen on all tourist postcards.
The main entrance of the imperial residence was supposed to surpass the famous Versailles and is still one of the “pearls” of St. Petersburg, attracting tourists from all over the world.
Hyde Park, London, England
The Royal Park is located in the very center of London and from the beginning, it belonged to Westminster Abbey, then Henry VIII turned it into royal hunting grounds, and in the 17th century Charles, I opened the park to the public. Now it is the most famous and popular park in London.
Among the attractions of Hyde Park, whose area is 14 hectares, are the statue of Achilles, the Wellington Museum, the memorial in honor of Princess Diana, and the artificial lake Serpentine. But the most famous place is Speakers’ Corner, which has made Hyde Park synonymous with freedom of speech. From 1872 to the present, everyone can speak publicly here on any topic, including criticism of the “first persons” of the state.
Central Park, New York, USA
“The green lungs of Manhattan” – this is the name of New York’s Central Park – a regular rectangle 800 meters wide and 4 kilometers (341 hectares) long with lakes, walking trails, children’s lawns, skating rinks, and pools. For such an urban and bustling city, a green oasis in the midst of skyscrapers is like a breath of fresh air.
This is the most visited park in the United States: about 25 million people visit it every year. Central Park attractions include the historic carousel, Belvedere Castle, Delacorte Theatre, Zoo, Wildlife Sanctuary.
Zhangjiajie National Park, China
Zhangjiajie National Park is relatively young – it was opened in 1982 and almost immediately added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The territory of the park is about 13,000 km2, where about 500 species of animals live and rare plant species grow.
The park is considered one of the most impressive places on Earth – primarily due to quartzite rocks with an average height of 800 meters (and the highest peaks of the massif reach a height of 3 kilometers). It was here that the creators of the film “Avatar” filmed the landscapes of Pandora. One of the attractions of the park is the world’s highest set of elevators that lift tourists to an observation deck 360 meters above the ground.
